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Sunday, 23 December 2012

On the back of the economy’s strong recovery, in particular Dubai, the UAE stock market has gained nearly 30 per cent this year.
The UAE has stood out as a safe haven amid the instability around Middle East. It has also been the main recipient of liquidity across the region.
Dubai’s position as a financial and a tourist hub has been cemented further during this year. This is evident in all the numbers—from trading , tourist footfall and hotel occupancy rates to real estate transactions and purchasing managers index (PMI).

The economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued to benefit from political woes in the rest of the Arab world, but the upswing may face some hurdles in 2013.

The year 2012 was a watershed for the seven emirates comprising UAE, a major Arab oil exporter. The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) expects the UAE of having achieved a real GDP growth of 4 percent in 2012, driven by constant high oil prices, a revival of the once shattered real estate markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and a boom in tourism, trade and logistics.

For 2013, however, Masoud Ahmed, the IMF's director for the Middle East and Central Asia region, sketches a less optimistic picture, as he expects growth to decline to 2.6 percent, citing " difficult global environment." The ongoing Euro zone debt crisis and sluggish U.S. economic recovery are poised to weigh on both oil- and non-oil sectors.

Oman's central bank is discussing the possible issuance of sukuk and other instruments which the country's new Islamic banking operations could use to manage their liquidity, a top central bank official said.

"Central Bank of Oman has taken up with Ministry of Finance the matter of issue of Sukuk," central bank executive president Hamood Sangour al-Zadjali said in emailed comments to Reuters, received on Sunday.

"Various details will be looked into," Zadjali added without elaborating. He noted that introducing liquidity management instruments into markets had historically proved to be a challenge, but said it would be addressed in this case.

Egypt's bourse dropped in volatile trade on Sunday, pulled down by profit-taking and concern that the central bank governor might resign, after stocks rose early on in response to voters' approval of a new constitution for the country.

Supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Mursi said their unofficial counts showed the constitution had been approved after two rounds of voting that ended with a final ballot on Saturday.

The vote does not remove and may inflame political tensions in Egypt; many in the opposition feel Mursi's action in pushing through the constitution violated the country's new democracy, and that the document favours Islamists while ignoring the rights of Christians and women. So the vote could be a recipe for further unrest in the long term.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will have little time to savour victory in pushing through a new constitution as it may have cost the Islamist leader broader support for urgent austerity measures needed to fix the creaking economy.

By fast-tracking the constitution through to a referendum that the opposition said was divisive, he may have squandered any chance of building a consensus on tax rises and spending cuts that are essential to rein in a crushing budget deficit.

Unofficial tallies from Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood showed the charter was approved by a 64 percent majority. But opponents said he lost the vote in much of the capital, while across the nation he alienated liberals, Christians and others worried by the text that was drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly.

UAE markets extend gains as investor target bluechips but trading is muted in the last few sessions of the year, while Qatar's measure slips from a four-week high.
Dubai's index rises 0.4 percent to close at 1,607 percent, its highest close since Dec. 10.
Bluechip Emaar Properties gains 0.5 percent and carrier Air Arabia rises 2.7 percent, its highest close since investors are favouring shares in the budget carrier, which is expected to pay a 2012 dividend of 7.2 percent.
Shares in Ajman Bank jump 4 percent, rising to their highest level since June 2009, on what traders say is on
bets the bank is the subject of a large stake purchase. Abu Dhabi's benchmark climbs 0.5 percent, ending at
2,631 points, its highest since Dec. 9.

Air Arabia PJSC (AIRARABI) rallied to a 21- month high on bets the Middle East’s biggest no-frills airline will boost its dividend payment as profit jumps.
The shares advanced 1.8 percent to 79.7 fils, the highest intraday level since March 2011, extending their seven-day gain to 8.4 percent. The stock was the second-most traded by volume on the benchmark DFM General Index (DFMGI), which rose 0.4 percent. The shares trade at a gross dividend yield of 7.6 percent, compared with 3.9 percent for the benchmark measure, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Air Arabia’s 2012 profit may jump 44 percent to 387 million dirhams ($105 million), according to the average estimate of eight analysts on Bloomberg. The Sharjah-based airline last paid a cash dividend of 0.06 dirham a share for 2011, when profit dropped 12 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Dubai's Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co, or du, said on Sunday that it had secured a $500 million, five-year club debt facility to fund its medium-term capital expenditure.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank acted as senior mandated lead arranger for the facility, with National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Samba Financial Group serving as mandated lead arrangers, the company said in a Dubai bourse filing. Mashreq Bank acted as co-arranger.

Du said the club debt facility was priced at a 1.75 percent margin over the London Interbank Offered Rate.

Egyptian stocks rise after most Egyptians voted to approve a controversial constitution; the main equities index
is back at levels where it was trading before a political crisis erupted over the constitution late last month.
Supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Mursi said their unofficial counts showed the constitution had been approved after two rounds of voting that ended with a final ballot on Saturday.
This does not end political tensions in Egypt; many in the opposition feel Mursi's action in pushing through the
constitution violated the country's new democracy, and that the document favours Islamists while ignoring the rights of Christians and women. So the vote could be a recipe for further unrest in the long term.

Qatar, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporter, has raised its forecasts for economic growth this year and in 2013 as the non-energy industries expand.

The nation’s real gross domestic product will increase 6.3 percent in 2012, compared to a previous forecast of 6.2 percent, and while economic growth in 2013 may rise to 4.8 percent compared with an estimate of 4.5 percent in June, the General Secretariat for Development Planning said in a statement today.

Qatar’s economic expansion is based on “robust” growth in the non-oil and gas industries, the government body said. The government forecasts 9.3 percent growth in those industries this year, and 9.6 percent in 2013. The government revised its 2012 nominal GDP to 14.7 percent from 11.2 percent.

Saudi Aramco has extended the deadline to bid for the development of the Midyan gas field by three weeks to January, two industry sources said.
Bidding is now due to close by Jan. 21 after companies asked again for an extension of the Dec. 31 deadline which had coincided with the year-end holiday period. The original deadline for submitting the bids was end-November.
Aramco wants to build a plant which will have a processing capacity of 75 million standard cubic feet per day of gas and a pipeline to feed gas to a power plant in the western port city of Duba.

The number of nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries who bought up real estate properties in another GCC member state, other than their home country, increased by 51.1% in 2011 to 16107, up from 10654 in 2010, recent figures from a report issued here today by the GCC Secretariat’s General Information and Statistical Center showed.
In 2011, Kuwaitis were the most buyers of real estate in other GCC countries with 8130 ownerships, followed by Saudis (2312) and Emiratis (2267), said the report.
This takes the total such inter-GCC real estate ownerships to 93767 by the end of 2011, compared to 77804 by the end of the previous year.

The recent opening of a visitor centre by Qatari Diar in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, is a further sign of Qatar’s desire to diversify it’s economy and use it’s economic wealth to increase it’s global clout.Wholly controlled by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatari Diar opened the centre in December.The visitor centre is the first phase of Diar Dushanbe, a mixed-use development in the Tajikistani capital that will encompass 68,000 square meters and is set to be completed by 2014.

The number of nationals and national corporate bodies of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf(GCC) countries who bought up real estates in another GCC member, other than their home country, increased by 51.1 per cent in 2011 to 16,107, up from 10,654 in 2010, recent figures from the GCC Secretariat General Information Center-Statistical Department, showed.
This takes the total such inter-GCC real estate ownerships to 93,767 by the end of 2011, compared to 77,804 by the end of the previous years.
The UAE came first among GCC nations in terms of attracting nationals of other GCC nationals with 10,873 registered contracts (67.5 per cent), followed by Oman with 3,364 registered contracts representing a 20.9 per cent share, and Bahrain in third place with 1,189 contracts.

All eyes are fixed on the 33rd summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries due to be held in Bahrain this week. It is hoped that GCC leaders will not overlook economic issues whilst discussing outstanding socio-political challenges in the region and beyond.
At stake is addressing issues related to primary integrating economic projects, namely the customs union, Gulf Common Market (GCM) and Gulf Monetary Union (GMU). Certainly, a considerable amount of detail and challenges go into ensuring implementation of putting these projects, thereby the possible slow pace of completion.
Launched in 2003, the customs union scheme failed repetitive deadlines. The original plan called for full implementation in a span of two years. Nevertheless, the GCC is now committed for ensuring across the board and categorical implementation of the project by 2015.

Dubai World is set to tap into a US$119 million (Dh437.1m) windfall after a Las Vegas resort sold 427 homes in a bulk deal.

The condominiums are part of CityCenter, an $8.5 billion entertainment complex on the Las Vegas strip, half owned by Infinity World, a unit of the Dubai government holding company.

CityCenter, which features the 4,004-room Aria gaming resort, several non-gaming hotels, residential towers and a 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district, opened in December 2009 during the city's real estate crash.

Emirates Airline flight 425 from Perth has just landed in Dubai. It is not yet lunch time but already 123 Emirates passenger jets have touched down at Terminal 3.

Margaret Peterson and Rod Cardinal are looking forward to a city tour and desert safari on their two-day stopover. The Australians expect to spend about A$1,000 (Dh3,821) on their first visit to the city, breaking their onward journey to London.

"We've heard lots of good things about Dubai," says Mr Cardinal. "We also now get to use the points with Qantas."

Stock markets in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are likely to outperform other Gulf Arab bourses early next year, buoyed by strong economic growth and a recovery in Dubai’s real estate market, fund managers and analysts believe.
This year was a mixed and in many cases disappointing one for Gulf equities, as the global financial crisis and geopolitical tensions weighed on the region’s markets despite healthy growth in its underlying economies.

Dubai’s benchmark index is up 17.6 per cent so far this year, exceeding a 14.8 per cent gain for the Morgan Stanley Emerging Market index. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi’s index has climbed 8.8 per cent and the Saudi benchmark is up 7.3 per cent.

The proposed multi-billion dollar Qatar-Bahrain causeway project has run into rough weather due to escalating costs and is now expected to be ready only a little before the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The cost of the project, according to Bahrain, soared in the aftermath of the world financial turbulence so it has been referred for a review. “After the onset of the world financial crisis we discovered that the cost of the project was very high, so we are reviewing the project and waiting for its findings,” Bahrain’s foreign minister has said.
The question now is what the cost of the project would be, and when the work would begin, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said in an interview to Al Sharq.